How to Hike Nippletop Mountain and Dial High Peaks
Dial and Nippletop Mountains are apart of the Adirondack 46er Challenge in upstate New York. Specifically, they are located in Keene, NY. All the high peaks are truly beautiful and totally worth it if you are able to hike them. Nippletop Mountain and Dial Peak are no exception, they are just as beautiful as well. I will say their summits are pretty small compared to other high peaks, so that and that it’s a tough hike are the only drawbacks about these two mountains. Otherwise, they are amazing.
In this article, you will read about Nippletop mountain hike along with Dial, Nippletop Mountain view, Nippletop Mountain camping, and much more.
This article is all about Nippletop Mountain.
Nippletop Mountain:
How to Get There : Directions
Dial and Nippletop are located in Keene, NY. For parking, you can park in the same parking area, as Gothics and Pyramid (here is a link to the directions, beginning of the second paragraph). All these trails are located along the same path way (at the Ausable Club), only Dial and Nippletop are not as far down along the road as Gothics and Pyramid are.
*Disclaimer, as of May 1st 2021, you will need a parking/hiking reservation if you plan on hiking anywhere at the Ausable Club, which is where Dial and Nippletop are located. Thus, you will need a permit to hike/park here. It’s very easy, you can access parking/hiking permits here and they are free.*
{Related Post : How to Hike Phelps Mountain & Giant Mountain + Rocky Peak Ridge}
Getting to the Trailhead
So, once you reach the parking lot, you will have to show the parking attendant your reservation or give them the last name that your reservation is under. Then after you park, you will have to walk about .5 of a mile to the Ausable club. You will walk past the parking attendant (or you can ask them where to walk to) and continue straight on the road, past the golf course. There will be signs once you reach the golf course, informing you which direction to go for the various hiking trails.
When I first did Gothics and Pyramid, I felt so lost, because until you walk past the golf course, there are no signs telling you where the peaks are. And the Ausable Club is all private (except for hikers, which I didn’t realize until I saw the different signs), so I felt very uncomfortable continuing to walk, when I didn’t even know where I was walking to (or if I was allowed). But I kept walking and eventually was directed to the hiking trails.
Once you walk past the golf course, like I said, you will see signs for Indian Head, and other hiking trails, and you will follow that. Then you will walk to an engraved gate, saying AMR. Here is the hiker registration area, where you will have to sign in and show your reservation or give another attendant the last name that your reservation is under. Once you walk through the engraved gate, you will walk on a dirt road for about .5-1 a mile, until you see your cut off for Dial and Nippletop summits via the Leech trail.
Nippletop Mountain View ↑
{Related Post : How to Hike Blake Mountain & Mount Colvin}
Getting to the Leech Trailhead
Once you are on the Leech trail, you will walk for about 1.7 miles, then come to a lookout area. You will see another sign, saying Dial is about 2 miles away, and Nippletop will be about 4.2 miles away. So, yes this is a LONG day of hiking, so be prepared. When I came back to my car (I also had to park about .5 of a mile farther away), I had walked 16.5 miles. If you park closer than where I was, it will probably only be about 15.5 miles. Also, it is a pretty steep incline. It really doesn’t flatten out, until after Dial’s summit, so, be prepared for lots of uphill.
To prepare for this hike, I brought, a 3 liter Camelbak of water (here is the bladder I used, and here you can find different backpacks to use for your day hikes). I also brought a HUGE bag of trail mix, MANY cliff bars, and three mini Gatorades. Also, it was starting to get cold, when I hiked these. Thus, I brought some gloves, a hat, a rain jacket (always), long sleeve shirt, lighter sweatshirt, and a thicker one (I tied around my waist). Also, I recommend bringing some sort of portable charger, for these longer hikes.
Nippletop Mountain Camping (Gill Brook area)
This is a quick side-note, if you want to hike the entire range, which also includes Mount Colvin and Blake Peak, you can camp at the Ausable Club. To camp here, you will follow Lake Road (the road you walk on after passing through the engraved AMR gate) until you get signs for the Gill Brook trail. You will turn to your left onto the signs for the Gill Brook Trail. You will follow this trail until you get to a trail split and there will be signs telling you where to go for Gill Brook camping. This is where you can camp in the AMR property.
Getting to Nippleptop Mountain
Once you arrive at Dial’s summit, you will see an awesome view of the surrounding mountains, it’s very similar to the view of Big Slide, if you’ve hiked that! Also, it is easy to miss this summit, because it is not marked. It will be on your right, and it’s basically just a huge rock boulder. Thus, only about five people maximum can fit on this summit. It’s also very windy, but really cool!
Okay, once you’ve spent some time at Dial, Nippletop is about 2.4 miles further down. Okay, here is my little story part. When I first attempted climbing these peaks, I could only do Dial on my first attempt. Because, once I got to Dial, some thunder decided to roll through. So, I got a little nervous and kicked into high gear back to my car. Luckily, I was okay. And when I tried to hike these peaks again, it was smooth sailing.
{Related Post : How to Hike Noonmark Mountain & Round}
And I got to go to the summit of Nippletop. Which is really cool. It is a smaller summit as well. Thus, if you can, I would try and hike these trails, on a weekday, so it’s not as crowded. But both these trails are definitely worth your time, both are superb. And that wraps up our information about Nippletop and Dial Mountain. Thank you for reading and I hope you found some new trails to explore!
In this article, you read about Nippletop mountain hike and Dial, Nippletop Mountain view, Nippletop Mountain camping, and much more.
P.S. Below is some footage I got from my hikes, if you want a sneak peak of the summits you’ll see!
